Balanced with the Force
by theLegendoftheDekuShrub
Summary: He pulled her in for a tight embrace as they tugged and pulled on each other's life forces, balancing each other out. By combining their power together, they healed themselves, not only from their physical wounds, but from their inner struggles between the light and dark. They were becoming balanced with the Force.


_Chapter 1: _

_I killed Snoke, and I'll kill you. _

Upon his return from Exegol, Kylo Ren was livid with rage and betrayal. The Emperor had confirmed what he had always suspected but never wanted to admit; he was nothing but a pawn to the rulers of the dark side. Darth Vader's whispers of guidance were not him at all - but the Emperor himself. The Emperor deceived him and used his desire to make his grandfather proud against him.

Considering the circumstances of his upbringing, he supposed he was an easy target… weak and easily malleable. His father never adjusted to having a force sensitive son, and was never comfortable with the Skywalker power following through his veins. Skywalker himself feared him so much, that he tried to murder him in his sleep! Meanwhile his mother's political career meant she was often absent, even absent from his father. Han Solo fell back into the life he knew best - smuggling.

Pacing up and down his quarters, Kylo was desperate for guidance. He turned to the mangled helmet of Darth Vader. He was hesitant to reach out in fear that he'd hear Palpatine through Vader's voice. Or, now that he knew the truth, would he hear his grandfather for the first time? Or would something else appear to him?

Curiosity got the better of him.

Not knowing what to expect, Kylo touched the helmet.

Several images flashed through his mind. The memories and visions were so fast he could barely process what he was seeing. He tried to calm his mind, to slow down the imagery.

He saw his father.

_Snoke is using you for your power. When he gets what he wants, he'll crush you. You know it's true. _

Touching Rey's hand… seeing her standing by his side… being with him…

Seeing Rey's parents… he decided to mediate more on this.

The Emperor had ordered him to kill her.

Snoke made the same mistake of trying to drive a wedge between the pair. Now the Emperor was repeating his own creation's mistake in underestimating the power of their bond together.

Just thinking of her opened up their Bond. She was training, though he couldn't tell where. She moved with grace, control and talent, but she was faltering, probably on his account.

He pulled away from their connection, not wanting to distract her further. Kylo sighed. He still didn't know why the Force was connecting them. Perhaps the Force was attempting to balance itself somehow.

The night they touched hands… he saw how alike they were… how vulnerable they both felt.

Kylo retracted his hand from Vader's mask.

He had to find Rey.

Kylo landed his ship on a platform of the Death Star ruins. He used his Bond with Rey to locate her. She was heading for the wayfinder so she could confront her grandfather.

She was marching on the path to the dark side, but not a path to the dark side that he had envisioned for them. He needed to reach out to her.

He didn't want her to face this alone, like he had. He wanted to protect her, to shield her from the power and corruption consuming her. He wondered if she was hearing voices conjured up by Palpatine, just as Palpatine had done to him.

Kylo was waiting for her in the throne room. When he saw her, he took the wayfinder and crushed it in his hand. "The only way you'll be coming to Exegol is with me."

Rey screamed. Their sabers clashed as they fought through the storm and the crushing waves of Endor. Years of conflict and torment unleashed in their duel, exhausting them to the point of surrender. But they were both too stubborn for that. Physically drained, Rey fell to her knees breathing heavily, but still thrashing her saber at him. Kylo lazily deflected her blows.

Suddenly he froze.

_Ben…_

The soft voice had a paralyzing effect on him.

_Help her. Only you can save her from the darkness. _

_What if I can't? _

_Kylo Ren can't. But my son can. _

As his mother's presence left him, Kylo felt a burning sharpness slice through him. He fell to the ground, bleeding out and holding his sides.

For a flicker of a second, Rey felt triumph in her victory, but this quickly subsided when she realised the magnitude of what she had done.

Rey fell beside him and placed her hand over his wound. Tears were streaming uncontrollably down her face.

_Not like this… _she thought. She looked into his eyes, and was realised that she was looking at Ben Solo, not Kylo Ren. She saw Ben. And he was dying. _I'm a monster. _

"I wanted to take your hand," she confessed through her tears. He was the only person in the galaxy that truly understood her, and her struggle against the dark. "I wanted to take _Ben's_ hand."

She closed her eyes and let her life force flow through to him.

She wanted to be with him, at his side. She felt the anger that consumed them both start to weaken through their Bond. Instead she felt other far more complex emotions; ones she had never experienced before.

As Rey was healing him, the memory of Ben's last encounter with his father returned to him - but something was different this time.

_Hey kid. _

Ben crawled out of the chasm that the Emperor had pushed him down. He was badly injured. A gash in his leg made it impossible for him to stand up straight. His sides were throbbing with excruciating pain, but none of this mattered. Rey was curled up on the ground. The silence from their Bond made him fear the worst.

He collapsed onto the ground halfway towards her, and was forced to crawl the rest of the way to her. He wrapped her up in his arms, feeling for life inside her. Something very faint was still pulsing in her, as if a sunrise were seconds away from fading into the horizon.

Closing his eyes, he placed his hand on her, feeling for that faint light inside her. He thought back to how she did this for only hours ago and what her sacrifice meant. He thought back to all the times they had communicated via their Bond, and how comfortable he was in sharing their vulnerabilities together. He loved her, even when he was Kylo Ren, but Kylo Ren didn't know what to do with such an emotion, so he buried it as best he could.

But now, his mother's guidance was exactly what he needed. Having his parents with him hours earlier gave him the strength to finally do what was right, what needed to be done.

Ben couldn't bare to see Rey as conflicted and tormented as Kylo Ren was. Palpatine said that they were a Force Dyad. Ben had only heard this term once before when had been reading one of his uncle's old Jedi texts. Force Dyads were rare, only appearing as a last resort attempt by the Force itself to bring about balance. It would do so by bringing together two force users of both the light and dark side to make them whole.

He felt her hand touch his. She smiled up at him. "Ben…"

Relief and joy raced through Ben's core as he admired the woman in his arms.

She touched his cheek and they felt their connection spring back to life. Their Bond was intensifying between them like it had never done before, as if this were meant to be. Rey's lips met his in a tender kiss. Ben deepened the kiss and then looked into her eyes.

She had never seen him smile before. She was finally seeing Ben… but then she noticed their connection start to fade.

Rey was quick to react. She placed her hands on his checks and forced some of his life force back into him.

"Not like this… don't die on me," she cried.

"I won't leave you, Rey. I will be with you. Always."

He pulled her in for a tight embrace as they tugged and pulled on each other's life forces, balancing out each other. By combining their power together, they healed themselves, not only from their physical wounds, but from their inner struggles between the light and dark.

They were becoming balanced with the Force.

Ben and Rey buried his mother and uncle's light sabers together on Tatooine outside the Lars Homestead.

"Can you see us living here?" Rey asked Ben as she was staring at the domed home.

Ben looked around at the old moisture farm in thought.

"Uhh… I don't really see it. There's too much history here," he said, as he walked around the dome structure. "This desert reminds me too much of Jakku. "

Rey smiled at that. Whilst Ben had his own memories of Jakku, he also shared in Rey's memories of growing up on the barren planet through the shared memories of their Bond. Their connection made her feel a sense of security that she had lost when her parents were taken away from her on Jakku.

"There's also too much sand. Obi-Wan was wise to take Luke here."

Rey jumped and laced her fingers with Ben's. A tall man in long Jedi robes was leaning against the old Lars Homestead, arms crossed over his chest.

Ben had never seen Anakin Skywalker before, but he knew… "Grandfather."

"Ben… I'm proud of you. Both of you." Anakin smiled at them, and just as fast as he appeared, he vanished.

Rey and Ben stood there in silence for a short while, processing what just happened.

"All that time, I thought he was speaking to me… and it was just a lie in my head…" he said, sadly. "I thought joining the First Order and finishing what he started would make him proud… I was so misguided."

Rey squeezed his hand affectionately. "We both were... I think I'm ready to let old things die… if you'll join me."

He pulled their entwined hands to his lips and kissed her hand. "I will always be with you."


End file.
